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A glossary of contemplative terms and concepts


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Meditation & Contemplation

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For the purposes of this website, contemplation and meditation mean the same thing -- a type of spiritual practice or way of being that emphasizes "nonconceptual awareness", "engagement with the present moment" and similar notions -- as distinct from more mentally-active practices. Unfortunately, these two words are often used in an arbitrary and unclear contrast to each other.

There is a common tendency in many religions to describe two special forms of applying the mind: one form in which we deeply think about some sacred subject; and another form in which we nonconceptually engage with some sacred reality. In Western religion, the first of those is called meditation, and the second is called contemplation. In English renderings of Eastern religions, unfortunately those two distinctions often get inverted, using contemplation for the thinking form, and meditation for the beyond-thinking form.

Regardless of the terminology, the important point is that both the Eastern and Western religious traditions have branches that specialize in cultivating "present-centered nonconceptual awareness" as a way of being -- and when they say meditation or contemplation they're referring to that way. This website, too, focuses on that way of being, and leaves the other kind of meditation (such as visualization, for example) for others to explain.